Top Bar Hive

This is #8 or 9 , that I have built. Of my original design it has been modified here and there from the feedback that I get from the beekeepers and also from my point of view.
The carcass and most main components are 1” roughcut ,either W. red cedar of Y. cedar. All exposed hardware is stainless or aluminum. The locking mechanism for the roof is simply HDPE with a stainless rod.Overall this is 48” at the roof and has room for 30 bars on the inside.Thanks for looking

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3 comments so far

Looks great.I have a question about using cedar. It has quite a bit of aromatic oil in it that vaporizes over a long period. I know cedar shavings are used as an “insect” repellant as in shavings in dog and cat beds. There are also concerns about cedar oil’s toxicity in some circumstances.

The Western Red Cedar that I use (Thuja plicata) does have some oils that deter certain insects, but I would never gaurentee that in writting. lolThe old growth cedar (250 years at least) is what alot of people refer to when saying that its weather resistant, resists rotting…. and bugs… but you will be hard pressed to find much of it without paying thru the nose..

The Western Red Cedar that I use (Thuja plicata) does have some oils that deter certain insects, but I would never gaurentee that in writting. lolThe old growth cedar (250 years at least) is what alot of people refer to when saying that its weather resistant, resists rotting…. and bugs… but you will be hard pressed to find much of it without paying thru the nose..

- kimosawboy

Living in Oregon I’m quite familiar with western cedars, both Western Red and Incense (sometimes referred to as Pencil wood because it is soft and used for pencils) which grow on my property. Clear heart old growth is very hard to find, a lot of it is shipped to Japan. In Oregon there are not many lumber mills that can even handle the large “old growth” logs any more. I harvested some a few years ago and I know they were exported.Carpenter ants seem to love to build their nests in cedar wood.